SUBMISSION OF THE BEYOND PROHIBITION FOUNDATION IN RESPONSE TO PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS TO HEALTH CANADA’S MARIHUANA MEDICAL ACCESS PROGRAM
INTRODUCTION
The Beyond Prohibition Foundation was established in 2010 to advocate for the repeal of cannabis prohibition and its replacement with a system of regulated production and distribution. It operates the website www.whyprohibition.ca, Canada's largest dedicated drug policy reform website and host to more than 30,000 members. The Foundation's mission includes advocacy on behalf of safe access to medicinal cannabis and cannabis byproducts for those obtaining therapeutic and medicinal benefit.
This submission responds to Health Canada's consultation document titled "Proposed Improvements to Health Canada's Marihuana Medical Access Program" (the "Consultation Document"). In the Consultation Document, Health Canada foreshadows significant changes to Canada's medical cannabis policies. The Foundation welcomes Health Canada's tacit acknowledgement that the current Marihuana Medical Access Regulation (MMAR) system is deeply flawed and in need of significant reform. That reform is necessary in two primary areas: (1) the need to improve access to the legal protections afforded by the legislative and regulatory scheme; and (2) the need to provide consumers with safe access to an effective supply of medicinal cannabis and cannabis byproducts. This submission lays out the Foundation's view of the proposed changes and offers suggestions for making necessary improvements to the federal program.
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I am deeply concerned about the response by Health Canada to the various court decisions declaring its existing medical marijuana program unconstitutional. The proposals that have been brought forward fail to deal with the myriad of problems in the program. Specifically, I take issue with the following proposals:
Physician as “Gatekeeper”:
R v Mernagh found that physicians in Canada have effectively boycotted the existing medical marijuana program, and therefore the program itself was unconstitutional. Health Canada's response does nothing to address this boycott beyond the promise of making information accessible to physicians. Any changes to the Health Canada medical marijuana program must abide by the findings in R v Mernagh and meaningfully expand the “Gatekeeper” role beyond physicians, preferably to include Naturopaths, Nurse Practitioners, Doctors of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacists.
Personal and Designated Production:
Individuals have spent thousands of dollars and often years of time setting up production facilities and finding appropriate marijuana cultivars (strains) for their condition. Court cases including Sfetkopolous, Beren and Hitzig have found that denying production licenses on arbitrary grounds violates a patient's constitutional rights to access medical marijuana. Read more »
Health Canada began two days of closed-door talks Wednesday about changes to the controversial medical marijuana law that has faced legal challenges and criticism for being ineffective.
But even as meetings get underway in Ottawa, there are concerns Health Canada is on the wrong track with a law that asks doctors to ignore a sworn obligation to protect patients’ health, while forcing patients to go to great lengths to obtain a drug that many say eases their pain.
Health Canada will hear from representatives of provincial and territorial ministries, medical associations, police forces, municipalities and users of medical marijuana.
Under the "Marihuana Medical Access Program," the obtaining of medical marijuana depends on doctors issuing an approval or "declaration" confirming that the cannabis will be smoked to ease pain, nausea or other symptoms associated with an illness. Read more »
The Chief and Council of the Westbank First Nation are taking steps to help the RCMP combat illegal drug activity on WFN Lands in line with their “No Tolerance Zone” policy.
The WFN was approached earlier this year by the RCMP asking that they assist in the ongoing police investigations into the production, sale and possession of marijuana on WFN Lands.
On July 4, Chief and Council gave third reading to amendments to the Safe Premises Law which will address the issue of medicinal marijuana licenses.
These licenses are issued by Health Canada and allow for the production, sale and consumption of marijuana for medicinal purposes.
The amendments make the federal regulations authorizing the issuance of medical marijuana licenses ineffective on WFN Lands. As a self-governing First Nation, they have the jurisdiction to create and implement laws such as this to keep the community safe.
This means that the production, sale and consumption of marijuana for medicinal purposes is not allowed on WFN lands.
The WFN says individuals who are producing, selling or consuming marijuana under one of these licences need to be aware that with the passing of these amendments, such activity is illegal and subject to the provisions of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act and the Criminal Code. Read more »
A former RCMP officer living with severe multiple sclerosis is suing the Mounties and Health Canada for damages suffered after his former colleagues raided his medical marijuana nursery.
Carlos (Cam) Cavaco, 50, and his wife Marnie O'Neil, who also acts as his sole caregiver, on Thursday filed a B.C. Supreme Court lawsuit alleging that on two separate occasions, less than eight months apart, their medicinal pot plants were destroyed by Sooke RCMP.
The lawsuit says the ensuing stress left them spiritually and emotionally shaken, their health deteriorated and their finances in ruin.
"Health Canada has bullied our physicians, provided irresponsible guidelines and put patients in legal limbo," O'Neil complained in an interview.
"There are gaps in the system that cause people like us to suffer. Worse, these problems combined with police discrimination against our medicine creates an environment where people are harassed, their property and medicine is destroyed and their health is compromised." Read more »
Surrey wants Health Canada to change its medical marijuana law to compel growers to obtain city bylaw licenses.
Council endorsed a resolution Monday night to put forward a resolution at this year’s UBCM conference to get the federal government to tighten medical marijuana regulations at the municipal level.
Surrey recently passed a bylaw to require growers to register at city hall and obtain permits, not only to ensure community safety, but to make it easier for RCMP to distinguish legal from illegal marijuana grow operations.
The city wants to ensure that growers get local permits that ensure safety regulations are met before getting federal approval to begin operations. Read more »
A national youth and student group is questioning some of the proposed changes to Canada's federally regulated medical marijuana program. Health Canada proposed several changes to the Medical Marihuana Access Program (MMAP) in order to ‘protect communities and young people.' Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy (CSSDP) made a submission to Health Canada today that questioned the effectiveness of the proposed changes, and called for extensive review with stakeholders. Read more »
Today the BC Civil Liberties Association called for sweeping reforms to Health Canada’s Medical Marihuana Access Program (MMAP). Health Canada is preparing to amend the MMAP, but the BCCLA say its proposal is heading in the wrong direction. Health Canada’s proposal would have patients directly authorized by physicians to use medical marihuana and patients would have to purchase their medical marihuana from licensed commercial producers. Read more »
Toronto activist Matt Mernagh is calling the medical marijuana program a “disaster.”
“In my trial, the judge concluded that less than one per cent of doctors are signing the application,” said Mernagh, who had been involved in a three-year legal battle against charges of possessing and growing cannabis to self-medicate. “Most of them don’t even know (the program) exists.”
To qualify for a licence, patients must obtain a signed declaration from a doctor and/or specialist, depending on the severity of illness.
While Mernagh says doctors are not necessarily opposed to the program, from his experience, most of them were not aware it existed until he brought it up. Read more »
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2011
PROPOSED CHANGES TO MEDICAL MARIJUANA RULES NOT GOOD ENOUGH
The Beyond Prohibition Foundation, a federal non-profit that advocates for sensible marijuana policy, is calling Health Canada's proposed changes to the federal medical marijuana program “too little, too late.”
“We applaud the belated recognition that the government's medical marijuana program needs substantial reform. This program has failed patients, producers and distributors of medical cannabis for a decade and needed to scrapped. Unfortunately, the new proposals miss the mark and will fail to address many of the existing issues with the program,” explained Kirk Tousaw, the Foundation's Executive Director and a lawyer that is responsible for groundbreaking Charter challenges in the area of access to medical marijuana.
Health Canada's plan includes physician approval of patient use followed by supply from an unspecified number of licensed producer/distributors. Physicians would no longer need to identify particular symptoms and conditions and the requirement that some patients consult a specialist would be eliminated. It is unclear how many producers would be licensed and what criteria would apply. It is also unclear how a lawful consumer would prove that to law enforcement authorities. Read more »
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By David McKie, CBC News
by Grant Scott
A national youth and student group is questioning some of the proposed changes to Canada's federally regulated medical marijuana program. Health Canada proposed several changes to the Medical Marihuana Access Program (MMAP) in order to ‘protect communities and young people.' Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy (CSSDP) made a submission to Health Canada today that questioned the effectiveness of the proposed changes, and called for extensive review with stakeholders. 
Today the BC Civil Liberties Association called for sweeping reforms to Health Canada’s Medical Marihuana Access Program (MMAP). Health Canada is preparing to amend the MMAP, but the BCCLA say its proposal is heading in the wrong direction. Health Canada’s proposal would have patients directly authorized by physicians to use medical marihuana and patients would have to purchase their medical marihuana from licensed commercial producers. 
Toronto activist Matt Mernagh is calling the medical marijuana program a “disaster.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
